The 4th Fortnyt Series under the theme GOAL SETTING AND ACHIEVEMENT (How you can set and achieve your goals as a startup or individual!) was hosted at TechBuzz Hub Main Office in Ntinda on the 24th November-2017, paneled by renowned inspirational leaders and authors in attendance were business owners, start-ups, university students as well as individuals looking to start up their own business ventures. The session was moderated by Mr. Keneth Twesigye TechBuzz Hub Team Lead.

Fortnyt Series are organized to give experiential learning for startups through the Q&A discussions. This theme goal setting and achievement was particularly selected to give insight on what ideas to pursue, what to consider when setting goals and the steps you need to take to achieve those goals. The panelists included;

The moderator started by giving eye opening insights where he quoted Charles Handy and Steven Covey; the two philosophers and specialists in organizational behavior and management from one of their books.

That they suggest that, “We all want to make a DIFFERENCE, to CONTRIBUTE”. For handy, It is First NEED FOR SURVIVAL as basics of life being in place before one can begin to address ones purpose in life, Second Establishing ones identity through proving oneself in the world, getting notice, earning a label in life and that once that is addressed, move to the Third and last; Make the difference you believe in to yourself and other people.

STEVEN COVEY, however says that; it’s about moving from Effectiveness to greatness that perhaps is the key to finding your Voice/Calling. This is best done by matching your passions with your strengths, achieving goals that satisfy your mind, heart, body and spirit.

QUESTION and ANSWER

Do you ever set goals for yourself, what are some of the goals that you have set lately? (Short term and long term)

Musolini: “Yes, to reach out 5 billion people and I would love to find a model in which I can spend at least three hours with my daughter” Said Musolini.

When starting his company; Success Africa Ethan’s main focus was Africa and how he would use his gift to help and inspire them however as time evolved he realized that we are all one, his heart is more open and his dream is more global and therefore intends to reach as many people as possible.

Bake: And for Bake, when asked whether he sets goals, he responded saying; everyone sets goals, even a thief sets goals for himself “I look at objectives which are the small targets you set to achieve those goals” Bake said. “Before I spend any amount I always ask myself whether that’s the lowest amount I can spend on that product” He added. Bake advises people involved or thinking of starting up a business to learn and grasp the art of saving. ”at this age, is the time you must be able to control your expenditure”.

Bakutana: “Do I set goals?” ”Do I need them?” “Will I go anywhere if I don’t set them?” are some of the rhetorical questions Bakutana asked. I used to set a number of resolutions at the beginning of the year but later changed this thinking because he realized that people set goals for the year and when they don’t achieve they get disappointed and leave those goals and get new ones. “If you aim at nothing you will hit itas long as you have something to hit, It can either be in January, March, December and October. He said.

“I know what am going to do by 2025 because everything is written down from the short term goals to the long term goals” Bakutana said. According to Bakutana “if you have something you want to achieve and it’s not written down you do possibly may not achieve it” having something written down helps you remember the things that are important to you and when you hope to achieve them.

Agree or Disagree: Is it better to set lower goals than risk failure by setting higher ones?

Bakutana: “I disagree!” Said Bakutana. In his own perspective he continued to say, “the reason why we fail to reach our goals is not because we set huge goals, it’s because we set tiny goals and we hit them” when you reach for something big it stretches your capacity, in-terms of thinking and creativity and helps you understand how hard you need to work to achieve that goal however thinking small hinders you from thinking outside the box and creating an impact not only to yourself but to the world in general. “It’s not about where you have reached but it’s about who you have become”.

Musolini: “Definitely, I disagree!” Musolini said. Law of expansion; “the bigger you think the more demands you will impose on yourself”Musolini said. “Shoot for the moon if you don’t hit you will hit the stars” he noted. It’s better to aim high than to aim low because if you aim high and miss at least you will hit something in between but if you aim low and miss, you hit the ground and probably never recover. This was wow to listen to.

Bake: “If you have goals that are easy to achieve then that’s not a goal” said Bake. “When we give yourselves huge goals we cannot think small”. Said bake

Have you ever set unrealistic goals what happened what did you learn from that?

Bake: Bake believes that he has never set unrealistic goals but rather if there goals that he set and didn’t achieve, it simply means he didn’t work hard enough to achieve them. He gives an example of two individuals with the intent to separate realistic to unrealistic. “One individual sets a goal that he wants to be make a billion dollars but ends up not making 100ugx” that doesn’t mean it is unrealistic! however the second individual with a P.7 certificate set a goal to be a member of parliament by 2021 and yet to qualify to be a member of parliament (MP) you are required to have a senior six certificate “that makes that goal unrealistic, unless if the constitution changes” Said Bake.

Bakutana: “What matters is not what happened to you but what you do when that happens”.

He planned to have a seasonal innovative challenge by 2016 and for some reason he did not manage to pull it off “what you call failure is actually an opportunity to set your goals more intelligently meet new people, and those that I realize are good goals I simply re-strategize and do it again” Bakutana said. It’s important to learn from every setback, challenges that we face, that’s the only way we shall better ourselves and do great things.

Musolini: “14yrs ago I set a goal of having a private jet” Musolini said. ”Have I failed on that goal?” he asked and responded by saying; No it has just been delayed. He reassured the audience saying, God’s delay is not his denial rather it may not be the right timing or it probably may not be for you. From his own experiences “What we call failure might actually be a blessing, there isn’t failure in life its actually feed he said “once you change your thought process and start looking at feedback in terms of what you need to change, like skillset, network and goals” Musolini noted.

Have you ever thought and risked failure in order to achieve a bigger goal? (Describe) what did you learn from that?

Musolini: 10years ago we held an event on personal finance at imperial royal, booked 100 seats and paid cash however 12 people were present thus ended up making a huge loss, ”we lost money but the 100 people were transformed” he said with much delight and positivity implying that it wasn’t more about the money but rather creating an impact for which case they were successful. “I am glad I did that, now I know what to do, to host a live event and what not to do” Musolini noted. It’s okay to think, big aim high because if you fail at least there are lessons learnt that you will use along the way.

Bake: “We have met many challengesand succeeded that’s why we areseated here” when starting out Bake narrated his experience and what he went through, “He was running a company of four people, the business was doing really well and they thought having more people on the team would increase on the amount of money coming in. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. “When we increased to about 16 people the money decreased, there was no additional value and was later accused of unlawful unemployment” Said Bake. Basing from his experience of recruiting individuals simply because he knew them and have been an employed for a while or because a close friend recommended them and later turned out to be a liability. Bake learnt never to make decisions based on emotions and advises individuals looking to startup “make sure you bring on board people who add value and bring on a skillset that you don’t have, that compliments you and your business”. Said Bake.

Bakutana: Bakutana spoke of a time he and a colleague of his organized a business community seminar to equip business owners with the skills to help them push their businesses further. According to statistics, the seminar was a success, about 600 people turned up for both the morning and afternoon session and had made a lot of money selling books and DVDs at the entrance. However the twist comes in at the end of the seminar when his colleague got very excited and told the audience, ”don’t forget to take a cup of coffee beforeyou leave” Bakutana said “everyone sat and with every sip I saw them take, I died“. Bakutana added.

“If you walk with 9 fools you will be the 10th.” While he advised the audience “Be careful with whom you go into partnership with as it might get you in a situation you don’t want to be in” said Bakutana.

Has there been a time when you turned a failure into success (Describe) what you learnt from that?

Bakutana: Years back Bakutana was employed as a programs manager after a while he realized he was stressed, fatigued and very bored at work so he asked for a three month leave from his employer. Fortunately or unfortunately he was permitted the three months leave but without pay, this came as a surprise to him ” I was a very good employee, I completed all my assignments on time “Bakutana said.

To make matters worse he had other responsibilities at the time a wife and a daughter as well as a land lady who needed her house rent. “I got home and sat for a week thinking what I was going to do for the next three months and that’s when I got a thought to write a book” Bakutana said.

“ I would write until 1:00am go to sleep then wake up at 4:00am then write again, I wrote a book in one week by the end of the month it had been published, pushed and sold copies in two months” Bakutana said. The lesson he learnt was self-evaluation if he didn’t sit for a whole week and realized the things he is passionate about, he wouldn’t be the successful author he is today. “I am glad about the mistake I thought I had done, it is through it that I managed to do something successful” said Bakutana.

Bake: “There are only thoughts that are tickled by challenges” Said Bake referencing to an earlier time in his life where he had wrote an inspirational book and wanted it to be published. However, the boss he went to in a publishing company didn’t attempt to look at the book even but rather told him to wait until his older about fifty years of age when he’s wiser and that educational books are the only books that sell in the country. “He told me if the book is not a text book it will not sale even 500 copies I turned that into an opportunity and proved that it’s possible to sell more than 500 copies” Said Bake.

Musolini: Years back, a young Musolini flew to the USA to attend a seminar with the intention of getting the locals to help donate some money to kick start his idea. “I flew to New York with a manila paper saying my name is Musolini and I need 20,000 dollars to kick start my idea”. Eventually, was escorted out of the seminar as he was disorganizing the seminar, however, one woman who had attended the seminar approached him and asked him how much money he had saved up for his idea but at the time, he had nothing saved up so the lady advised him, ”Wouldn’t it be much better to have some money and ask others to top up” Said Musolini quoting the lady. The lesson he learnt from that experience was personal responsibility and advises the audience to stop begging and start creating.

If you don’t accomplish your goals, does that make you a failure?

When asked whether not achieving your goals makes you a failure during the Q&A discussion, in a row, all the panelist simultaneously responded ‘NO’ with strong disagreement that the inability to achieve your goals makes you a failure.

The panelists shared their stories from where they started out and how they have over time achieved minute successes, which eventually count as big success. They had to fall and raise up and try again. It didn’t take them just a single attempt they also set some goals they haven’t hit yet or they have not and do not hope to quit any time soon. To a larger extent, failure have made them more resilient and more wiser ‘success takes time’

What are some of the good ways to deal with disappointment?

Bakutana: “Re appoint yourself! “ Bakutana said in attempt to make his point clear to everyone he continued to say; in my own understanding and experience, this is a way of taking away something from an individual for instance when the government plans to disarm the civilians it simply means taking weapons or ammunition from individuals.” If someone removes an appointment from you reappoint yourself and if things don’t work out then focus on other opportunities, let it go, focus on new opportunities and miracles will happen” He added.

Musolini: “Some of these failures are lessons learnt, turn these setbacks into come backs” Musolini said. It is important for people to use positive thoughts when faced with such challenges for instance; how can I use this failure to become a gift? How can I use this failure to become better? How can I use this to become a successful person?

Bake: “Most times, what looks like disappointments are actually for our own good!” According to Bake, when faced with a disappointment it’s important to ask yourself whether you had a responsibility in it or whether it was caused by you. If it was caused by you then you need to forgive yourself, if you don’t, 15years down the road you will still blame yourself. “Always move forward” he advised.

What features of goal setting are important if we want to ensure they are more likely to be successfully achieved?

Bake: “Every time I think of goals, I think about the future, present, mission, vision and everything in between”. Said Bake. According to Bake when setting goals, he thinks about the mission, if it doesn’t benefit him or the society he doesn’t implement them. If you set a goal that only benefits you alone it will be hard to achieve “if it doesn’t have the other element it will not work” said Bake.

Musolini: “Gifts and talent” said Musolini. Musolini realized that he was gifted with the art of public speaking and was very good at communicating with people. He therefore followed his passion and he is today one of the most respected motivational and leadership coaches on the continent.

“Do something that excites you” said Musolini. When you do something that excites you, you never feel tired, you never have to be forced to do it. “People have wishes instead of goals there has to be a plan” Said Musolini. Most of the youth today want to see so many things happen in their lives but never do anything in respect to achieving that, however, if you set a goal, create a set by step plan to achieve that goal and then take action, you’re on your way to achieving success.

The other feature of goal setting according to Musolini is “Daily action towards your goals” if you do something every day to get closer to your goal, there is nothing that will stop you! He explained.

Bakutana: “Clarity, people need to set goals that are S.M.A.R.T.E.R in nature” Bakutana noted (Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Result Oriented, Time bound, Extending/Stretching and Rewarding). Specific in terms of what exactly you want to achieve, if it’s to get money how much money do you want to, it has to be time-bound you need to specify how long it will take you to achieve that goal. “My goal is to make a lot of money this year” what do you mean? Bakutana said. According to Bakutana “if you set something you’re not clear about, it is hard to achieve”, giving an example of one of the goals he set this year which was to write two books this year. Bakutana achieved success in his goal because it was specific measureable and achievable (write two books) time bound write a book in a period of 12 months and rewarding, his smiling all the way to the bank because it didn’t take him 10 – 20years to achieve his goal.

According to Bakutana the other feature of goal setting that is mostly likely to lead to success is “Passionif it’s something with in your area of interest then it will be easier for you to wake up early and sleep late to achieve” he said.

“Put in place public accountability structures” according to Bakutana without accountability structures there is no growth. Call somebody and tell them what you have put in place and how you plan on working towards achieving that goal, that will push you to do more towards achieving since no longer accountable to just yourself but other people too.

“The reasons why we get disappointed is because we set goals and don’t know why we are setting them, we need to think about the many reasons; why we are doing what we are doing! Who it is going to help! How you’re going to benefit! These will become constantly fuel you to keep you going”. Musolini supplemented

What kind of ideas should one pursue or are more likely to make us motivated to achieve?

Musolini: “Find ideas that excite you, find ideas that feed into your purpose. “ Said Musolini. There is a high chance of achieving success when you pursue something that is closest to your heart as you will do whatever it takes for it to succeed. “Don’t follow what other people are telling you” You need to be accountable for everything you say and do.

“Trust is currency” Said Musolini, every action you take there is a record at are spiritual level, he added.

Bakutana: According to Bakutana when choosing a career path “it has to be in line with your strength and not your weakness” it is therefore important to choose something that you can do or are willing to do 100% with love, determination and no fear for failure.

Bake: According to Bake, “Success is spiritual because there are times you work hard but never achieve success and yet there are others who work less and achieve success”. This is one of the things people fail to understand today they want to engage into businesses because they see the other person is very successful in it and they end up making loses for starters in particular. God didn’t bless that job for them therefore they don’t have the right skills attitude and personality to attract customers all these things need to be put into perspective when pursuing an idea.

According to Bake: “ You must be having the capital needed, passion, skills, talent, knowledge and networks, once you have all that, that’s when you start having money” said Bake.

All the panelists pointed out that INTEGRITY is key when responding to this question. However, Bakutana leaves us with this quote “You need to have integrity if you’re a leader with a head without a heart”.

One of the best ways to grow one’s networks is to “start with a purpose, go to your potential mentor with something in your hands, ask yourself what is valuable to this person and then provide it.“ Musolini said. He added “Get your friends to introduce you to their friends as well as be aware what you post on social media and follow these (referring to panelists of the series) people, comment and share their content”.

He continued to say; “Don’t only rely on people within your field to be your mentor look out for people with different skillset, for-instance spiritual mentors, academic mentors, and professional mentors all these people can guide you in the different aspects of life”

“Most of the young individuals are seeking out for big figures and personalities requesting them to be their mentors but before asking them you need to ask yourself what are you bringing to the table, what value are you bringing to the network” Bakutana said. Quoting H.E John F. Kennedy once a president of the United States of America” Don’t ask what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country”.

“Go in places where the people you’re looking for are, have confidence, position yourself and employment will find you” Bakutana advised.

There two points in a business, there is shut-down and break-even point, if you have gone to a shut-down point do you close?( Anonymous)

“There are things that are logical and those that are illogical, if your business reaches shut down point don’t shut down re-strategize especially if it’s in line with your purpose never shut down reengineer yourself, re-strategize” said Musolini.

“Evaluate yourself and see if you’re an egg or a tennis ball” said Bakutana. For an egg, when thrown on the ground breaks, splashes and cannot be put back together while a tennis ball when thrown on the ground it falls and then bounces back.

As inspirational coaches when things get tough how do you get fired up? ( Neilson waripa)

“The trick is find out what works for you, retreat and rejuvenate, read and listen to inspirational literature” Bakutana said. Even these inspirational coaches also have days when we are feeling down and when we do, they speak to a “shrink” (counselor) to motivate and inspire them. “A coach is never a cost it’s an investment”. Bakutana affirmed adding that he keeps a vibrant relationship with his family so when he has a bad day those are his fall back.

It’s important to be mindful of the company you keep, ask yourself if they are adding value to your life, if not why are you with them. “If you want to be an eagle why are flocking with the chicken”said Musolini.

As inspirational speakers, have you ever been challenged with a question that you have no facts about, what was your reaction?( David Luboyera)

“We have specializations too like myself, specializes mostly in leadership. As well, we read wide, know something about everything so that when asked, not so green, have something to respond”Bakutana said and added ”always keep the point of integrity so that if asked and you have no clue you can honestly say you’re completely not sure about it and move passed it”.

How do you best evaluate the feedback you receive after an event? (anonymous)

“I ask people whose opinion I trust and value. “ Bakutana said. He one time sent about 500 messages to people whose opinion matters to him and according to him he got the feedback he needed and he was extremely encouraged.

Also, I keep records of everything from my goals, talk’s ideas that’s how he is able to evaluate himself and his achievements. “I use a dairy where I capture all my talks as well as capture important information and note it down”. He was heard give statistics (2013- 164 talks, 2014 – 191talks, 2015 – 171 talks, 2016-190 talks and 168 talks so far)

What is the right time to retire and follow your passion?(Mesock Mufuko)

“We don’t stop doing the things we don’t like for the purpose of making money doing the things we like”Bake said. It’s a matter of doing the things your passionate about and figuring out how to get money out of it. “Working never stops and I personally doesn’t believe in retirement even if we stopped doing the jobs we were previously employedin, we still continue to work to pursue other goals” Said Bake.

Some of us find that we have different likes and are studying different things, how do you find the balance to do what you’re passionate about and at the same time achieve success in your academic profession? ( Julian Owasimire)

Bakutana gives a list of his many talents and how he stroke the balance he plays music writes music, public speaker, enjoys writing. “What saved me was a realization that there is a difference between purpose, skill, talent and goals, I realized that my purpose is in leadership”Bakutana said.

Musolini advises” find an area of focus and an area in which they can intertwine all those dreams so you have there is a purpose for them”.

As honorable Robert Kyangulanyi says “Make your passion your profession” The youth’ today instead of constantly asking ‘Governmenti Etuuyambe’ literal translation (Government assist us). You need to discover what your passionate about, What your good at, Think about how you can ethically make money out of it, Set steps or plans on how you will achieve it, identify the people you will need to make the dream a reality, Get them on your team and then take action. Do your part, Trust God and he will do the rest.

Finally, It is always a pleasure hosting great panelists, a great audience and to recommender of these sessions to friends, networks, workmates, groups and more so who share on their social media platforms. Namaste! Thank you! Asante!

Also, is always a high recommendation for if you can, attend these events physically, this article picks out main points and leave out other important parts of the session like, actions/expressions, fun, one one-one with panelists, sharing your thought, networking and being around like minds. Next series on Friday December 8, 2017 at TechBuzz Hub

The 4th Fortnyt Series under the theme GOAL SETTING AND ACHIEVEMENT (How you can set and achieve your goals as a startup or individual!) was hosted at TechBuzz Hub Main Office in Ntinda on the 24th November-2017, paneled by renowned inspirational leaders and authors in attendance were business owners, start-ups, university students as well as individuals looking to start up their own business ventures. The session was moderated by Mr. Keneth Twesigye TechBuzz Hub Team Lead.

Fortnyt Series are organized to give experiential learning for startups through the Q&A discussions. This theme goal setting and achievement was particularly selected to give insight on what ideas to pursue, what to consider when setting goals and the steps you need to take to achieve those goals. The panelists included;

The moderator started by giving eye opening insights where he quoted Charles Handy and Steven Covey; the two philosophers and specialists in organizational behavior and management from one of their books.

That they suggest that, “We all want to make a DIFFERENCE, to CONTRIBUTE”. For handy, It is First NEED FOR SURVIVAL as basics of life being in place before one can begin to address ones purpose in life, Second Establishing ones identity through proving oneself in the world, getting notice, earning a label in life and that once that is addressed, move to the Third and last; Make the difference you believe in to yourself and other people.

STEVEN COVEY, however says that; it’s about moving from Effectiveness to greatness that perhaps is the key to finding your Voice/Calling. This is best done by matching your passions with your strengths, achieving goals that satisfy your mind, heart, body and spirit.

QUESTION and ANSWER

Do you ever set goals for yourself, what are some of the goals that you have set lately? (Short term and long term)

Musolini: “Yes, to reach out 5 billion people and I would love to find a model in which I can spend at least three hours with my daughter” Said Musolini.

When starting his company; Success Africa Ethan’s main focus was Africa and how he would use his gift to help and inspire them however as time evolved he realized that we are all one, his heart is more open and his dream is more global and therefore intends to reach as many people as possible.

Bake: And for Bake, when asked whether he sets goals, he responded saying; everyone sets goals, even a thief sets goals for himself “I look at objectives which are the small targets you set to achieve those goals” Bake said. “Before I spend any amount I always ask myself whether that’s the lowest amount I can spend on that product” He added. Bake advises people involved or thinking of starting up a business to learn and grasp the art of saving. ”at this age, is the time you must be able to control your expenditure”.

Bakutana: “Do I set goals?” ”Do I need them?” “Will I go anywhere if I don’t set them?” are some of the rhetorical questions Bakutana asked. I used to set a number of resolutions at the beginning of the year but later changed this thinking because he realized that people set goals for the year and when they don’t achieve they get disappointed and leave those goals and get new ones. “If you aim at nothing you will hit itas long as you have something to hit, It can either be in January, March, December and October. He said.

“I know what am going to do by 2025 because everything is written down from the short term goals to the long term goals” Bakutana said. According to Bakutana “if you have something you want to achieve and it’s not written down you do possibly may not achieve it” having something written down helps you remember the things that are important to you and when you hope to achieve them.

Agree or Disagree: Is it better to set lower goals than risk failure by setting higher ones?

Bakutana: “I disagree!” Said Bakutana. In his own perspective he continued to say, “the reason why we fail to reach our goals is not because we set huge goals, it’s because we set tiny goals and we hit them” when you reach for something big it stretches your capacity, in-terms of thinking and creativity and helps you understand how hard you need to work to achieve that goal however thinking small hinders you from thinking outside the box and creating an impact not only to yourself but to the world in general. “It’s not about where you have reached but it’s about who you have become”.

Musolini: “Definitely, I disagree!” Musolini said. Law of expansion; “the bigger you think the more demands you will impose on yourself”Musolini said. “Shoot for the moon if you don’t hit you will hit the stars” he noted. It’s better to aim high than to aim low because if you aim high and miss at least you will hit something in between but if you aim low and miss, you hit the ground and probably never recover. This was wow to listen to.

Bake: “If you have goals that are easy to achieve then that’s not a goal” said Bake. “When we give yourselves huge goals we cannot think small”. Said bake

Have you ever set unrealistic goals what happened what did you learn from that?

Bake: Bake believes that he has never set unrealistic goals but rather if there goals that he set and didn’t achieve, it simply means he didn’t work hard enough to achieve them. He gives an example of two individuals with the intent to separate realistic to unrealistic. “One individual sets a goal that he wants to be make a billion dollars but ends up not making 100ugx” that doesn’t mean it is unrealistic! however the second individual with a P.7 certificate set a goal to be a member of parliament by 2021 and yet to qualify to be a member of parliament (MP) you are required to have a senior six certificate “that makes that goal unrealistic, unless if the constitution changes” Said Bake.

Bakutana: “What matters is not what happened to you but what you do when that happens”.

He planned to have a seasonal innovative challenge by 2016 and for some reason he did not manage to pull it off “what you call failure is actually an opportunity to set your goals more intelligently meet new people, and those that I realize are good goals I simply re-strategize and do it again” Bakutana said. It’s important to learn from every setback, challenges that we face, that’s the only way we shall better ourselves and do great things.

Musolini: “14yrs ago I set a goal of having a private jet” Musolini said. ”Have I failed on that goal?” he asked and responded by saying; No it has just been delayed. He reassured the audience saying, God’s delay is not his denial rather it may not be the right timing or it probably may not be for you. From his own experiences “What we call failure might actually be a blessing, there isn’t failure in life its actually feed he said “once you change your thought process and start looking at feedback in terms of what you need to change, like skillset, network and goals” Musolini noted.

Have you ever thought and risked failure in order to achieve a bigger goal? (Describe) what did you learn from that?

Musolini: 10years ago we held an event on personal finance at imperial royal, booked 100 seats and paid cash however 12 people were present thus ended up making a huge loss, ”we lost money but the 100 people were transformed” he said with much delight and positivity implying that it wasn’t more about the money but rather creating an impact for which case they were successful. “I am glad I did that, now I know what to do, to host a live event and what not to do” Musolini noted. It’s okay to think, big aim high because if you fail at least there are lessons learnt that you will use along the way.

Bake: “We have met many challengesand succeeded that’s why we areseated here” when starting out Bake narrated his experience and what he went through, “He was running a company of four people, the business was doing really well and they thought having more people on the team would increase on the amount of money coming in. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. “When we increased to about 16 people the money decreased, there was no additional value and was later accused of unlawful unemployment” Said Bake. Basing from his experience of recruiting individuals simply because he knew them and have been an employed for a while or because a close friend recommended them and later turned out to be a liability. Bake learnt never to make decisions based on emotions and advises individuals looking to startup “make sure you bring on board people who add value and bring on a skillset that you don’t have, that compliments you and your business”. Said Bake.

Bakutana: Bakutana spoke of a time he and a colleague of his organized a business community seminar to equip business owners with the skills to help them push their businesses further. According to statistics, the seminar was a success, about 600 people turned up for both the morning and afternoon session and had made a lot of money selling books and DVDs at the entrance. However the twist comes in at the end of the seminar when his colleague got very excited and told the audience, ”don’t forget to take a cup of coffee beforeyou leave” Bakutana said “everyone sat and with every sip I saw them take, I died“. Bakutana added.

“If you walk with 9 fools you will be the 10th.” While he advised the audience “Be careful with whom you go into partnership with as it might get you in a situation you don’t want to be in” said Bakutana.

Has there been a time when you turned a failure into success (Describe) what you learnt from that?

Bakutana: Years back Bakutana was employed as a programs manager after a while he realized he was stressed, fatigued and very bored at work so he asked for a three month leave from his employer. Fortunately or unfortunately he was permitted the three months leave but without pay, this came as a surprise to him ” I was a very good employee, I completed all my assignments on time “Bakutana said.

To make matters worse he had other responsibilities at the time a wife and a daughter as well as a land lady who needed her house rent. “I got home and sat for a week thinking what I was going to do for the next three months and that’s when I got a thought to write a book” Bakutana said.

“ I would write until 1:00am go to sleep then wake up at 4:00am then write again, I wrote a book in one week by the end of the month it had been published, pushed and sold copies in two months” Bakutana said. The lesson he learnt was self-evaluation if he didn’t sit for a whole week and realized the things he is passionate about, he wouldn’t be the successful author he is today. “I am glad about the mistake I thought I had done, it is through it that I managed to do something successful” said Bakutana.

Bake: “There are only thoughts that are tickled by challenges” Said Bake referencing to an earlier time in his life where he had wrote an inspirational book and wanted it to be published. However, the boss he went to in a publishing company didn’t attempt to look at the book even but rather told him to wait until his older about fifty years of age when he’s wiser and that educational books are the only books that sell in the country. “He told me if the book is not a text book it will not sale even 500 copies I turned that into an opportunity and proved that it’s possible to sell more than 500 copies” Said Bake.

Musolini: Years back, a young Musolini flew to the USA to attend a seminar with the intention of getting the locals to help donate some money to kick start his idea. “I flew to New York with a manila paper saying my name is Musolini and I need 20,000 dollars to kick start my idea”. Eventually, was escorted out of the seminar as he was disorganizing the seminar, however, one woman who had attended the seminar approached him and asked him how much money he had saved up for his idea but at the time, he had nothing saved up so the lady advised him, ”Wouldn’t it be much better to have some money and ask others to top up” Said Musolini quoting the lady. The lesson he learnt from that experience was personal responsibility and advises the audience to stop begging and start creating.

If you don’t accomplish your goals, does that make you a failure?

When asked whether not achieving your goals makes you a failure during the Q&A discussion, in a row, all the panelist simultaneously responded ‘NO’ with strong disagreement that the inability to achieve your goals makes you a failure.

The panelists shared their stories from where they started out and how they have over time achieved minute successes, which eventually count as big success. They had to fall and raise up and try again. It didn’t take them just a single attempt they also set some goals they haven’t hit yet or they have not and do not hope to quit any time soon. To a larger extent, failure have made them more resilient and more wiser ‘success takes time’

What are some of the good ways to deal with disappointment?

Bakutana: “Re appoint yourself! “ Bakutana said in attempt to make his point clear to everyone he continued to say; in my own understanding and experience, this is a way of taking away something from an individual for instance when the government plans to disarm the civilians it simply means taking weapons or ammunition from individuals.” If someone removes an appointment from you reappoint yourself and if things don’t work out then focus on other opportunities, let it go, focus on new opportunities and miracles will happen” He added.

Musolini: “Some of these failures are lessons learnt, turn these setbacks into come backs” Musolini said. It is important for people to use positive thoughts when faced with such challenges for instance; how can I use this failure to become a gift? How can I use this failure to become better? How can I use this to become a successful person?

Bake: “Most times, what looks like disappointments are actually for our own good!” According to Bake, when faced with a disappointment it’s important to ask yourself whether you had a responsibility in it or whether it was caused by you. If it was caused by you then you need to forgive yourself, if you don’t, 15years down the road you will still blame yourself. “Always move forward” he advised.

What features of goal setting are important if we want to ensure they are more likely to be successfully achieved?

Bake: “Every time I think of goals, I think about the future, present, mission, vision and everything in between”. Said Bake. According to Bake when setting goals, he thinks about the mission, if it doesn’t benefit him or the society he doesn’t implement them. If you set a goal that only benefits you alone it will be hard to achieve “if it doesn’t have the other element it will not work” said Bake.

Musolini: “Gifts and talent” said Musolini. Musolini realized that he was gifted with the art of public speaking and was very good at communicating with people. He therefore followed his passion and he is today one of the most respected motivational and leadership coaches on the continent.

“Do something that excites you” said Musolini. When you do something that excites you, you never feel tired, you never have to be forced to do it. “People have wishes instead of goals there has to be a plan” Said Musolini. Most of the youth today want to see so many things happen in their lives but never do anything in respect to achieving that, however, if you set a goal, create a set by step plan to achieve that goal and then take action, you’re on your way to achieving success.

The other feature of goal setting according to Musolini is “Daily action towards your goals” if you do something every day to get closer to your goal, there is nothing that will stop you! He explained.

Bakutana: “Clarity, people need to set goals that are S.M.A.R.T.E.R in nature” Bakutana noted (Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Result Oriented, Time bound, Extending/Stretching and Rewarding). Specific in terms of what exactly you want to achieve, if it’s to get money how much money do you want to, it has to be time-bound you need to specify how long it will take you to achieve that goal. “My goal is to make a lot of money this year” what do you mean? Bakutana said. According to Bakutana “if you set something you’re not clear about, it is hard to achieve”, giving an example of one of the goals he set this year which was to write two books this year. Bakutana achieved success in his goal because it was specific measureable and achievable (write two books) time bound write a book in a period of 12 months and rewarding, his smiling all the way to the bank because it didn’t take him 10 – 20years to achieve his goal.

According to Bakutana the other feature of goal setting that is mostly likely to lead to success is “Passionif it’s something with in your area of interest then it will be easier for you to wake up early and sleep late to achieve” he said.

“Put in place public accountability structures” according to Bakutana without accountability structures there is no growth. Call somebody and tell them what you have put in place and how you plan on working towards achieving that goal, that will push you to do more towards achieving since no longer accountable to just yourself but other people too.

“The reasons why we get disappointed is because we set goals and don’t know why we are setting them, we need to think about the many reasons; why we are doing what we are doing! Who it is going to help! How you’re going to benefit! These will become constantly fuel you to keep you going”. Musolini supplemented

What kind of ideas should one pursue or are more likely to make us motivated to achieve?

Musolini: “Find ideas that excite you, find ideas that feed into your purpose. “ Said Musolini. There is a high chance of achieving success when you pursue something that is closest to your heart as you will do whatever it takes for it to succeed. “Don’t follow what other people are telling you” You need to be accountable for everything you say and do.

“Trust is currency” Said Musolini, every action you take there is a record at are spiritual level, he added.

Bakutana: According to Bakutana when choosing a career path “it has to be in line with your strength and not your weakness” it is therefore important to choose something that you can do or are willing to do 100% with love, determination and no fear for failure.

Bake: According to Bake, “Success is spiritual because there are times you work hard but never achieve success and yet there are others who work less and achieve success”. This is one of the things people fail to understand today they want to engage into businesses because they see the other person is very successful in it and they end up making loses for starters in particular. God didn’t bless that job for them therefore they don’t have the right skills attitude and personality to attract customers all these things need to be put into perspective when pursuing an idea.

According to Bake: “ You must be having the capital needed, passion, skills, talent, knowledge and networks, once you have all that, that’s when you start having money” said Bake.

All the panelists pointed out that INTEGRITY is key when responding to this question. However, Bakutana leaves us with this quote “You need to have integrity if you’re a leader with a head without a heart”.

One of the best ways to grow one’s networks is to “start with a purpose, go to your potential mentor with something in your hands, ask yourself what is valuable to this person and then provide it.“ Musolini said. He added “Get your friends to introduce you to their friends as well as be aware what you post on social media and follow these (referring to panelists of the series) people, comment and share their content”.

He continued to say; “Don’t only rely on people within your field to be your mentor look out for people with different skillset, for-instance spiritual mentors, academic mentors, and professional mentors all these people can guide you in the different aspects of life”

“Most of the young individuals are seeking out for big figures and personalities requesting them to be their mentors but before asking them you need to ask yourself what are you bringing to the table, what value are you bringing to the network” Bakutana said. Quoting H.E John F. Kennedy once a president of the United States of America” Don’t ask what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country”.

“Go in places where the people you’re looking for are, have confidence, position yourself and employment will find you” Bakutana advised.

There two points in a business, there is shut-down and break-even point, if you have gone to a shut-down point do you close?( Anonymous)

“There are things that are logical and those that are illogical, if your business reaches shut down point don’t shut down re-strategize especially if it’s in line with your purpose never shut down reengineer yourself, re-strategize” said Musolini.

“Evaluate yourself and see if you’re an egg or a tennis ball” said Bakutana. For an egg, when thrown on the ground breaks, splashes and cannot be put back together while a tennis ball when thrown on the ground it falls and then bounces back.

As inspirational coaches when things get tough how do you get fired up? ( Neilson waripa)

“The trick is find out what works for you, retreat and rejuvenate, read and listen to inspirational literature” Bakutana said. Even these inspirational coaches also have days when we are feeling down and when we do, they speak to a “shrink” (counselor) to motivate and inspire them. “A coach is never a cost it’s an investment”. Bakutana affirmed adding that he keeps a vibrant relationship with his family so when he has a bad day those are his fall back.

It’s important to be mindful of the company you keep, ask yourself if they are adding value to your life, if not why are you with them. “If you want to be an eagle why are flocking with the chicken”said Musolini.

As inspirational speakers, have you ever been challenged with a question that you have no facts about, what was your reaction?( David Luboyera)

“We have specializations too like myself, specializes mostly in leadership. As well, we read wide, know something about everything so that when asked, not so green, have something to respond”Bakutana said and added ”always keep the point of integrity so that if asked and you have no clue you can honestly say you’re completely not sure about it and move passed it”.

How do you best evaluate the feedback you receive after an event? (anonymous)

“I ask people whose opinion I trust and value. “ Bakutana said. He one time sent about 500 messages to people whose opinion matters to him and according to him he got the feedback he needed and he was extremely encouraged.

Also, I keep records of everything from my goals, talk’s ideas that’s how he is able to evaluate himself and his achievements. “I use a dairy where I capture all my talks as well as capture important information and note it down”. He was heard give statistics (2013- 164 talks, 2014 – 191talks, 2015 – 171 talks, 2016-190 talks and 168 talks so far)

What is the right time to retire and follow your passion?(Mesock Mufuko)

“We don’t stop doing the things we don’t like for the purpose of making money doing the things we like”Bake said. It’s a matter of doing the things your passionate about and figuring out how to get money out of it. “Working never stops and I personally doesn’t believe in retirement even if we stopped doing the jobs we were previously employedin, we still continue to work to pursue other goals” Said Bake.

Some of us find that we have different likes and are studying different things, how do you find the balance to do what you’re passionate about and at the same time achieve success in your academic profession? ( Julian Owasimire)

Bakutana gives a list of his many talents and how he stroke the balance he plays music writes music, public speaker, enjoys writing. “What saved me was a realization that there is a difference between purpose, skill, talent and goals, I realized that my purpose is in leadership”Bakutana said.

Musolini advises” find an area of focus and an area in which they can intertwine all those dreams so you have there is a purpose for them”.

As honorable Robert Kyangulanyi says “Make your passion your profession” The youth’ today instead of constantly asking ‘Governmenti Etuuyambe’ literal translation (Government assist us). You need to discover what your passionate about, What your good at, Think about how you can ethically make money out of it, Set steps or plans on how you will achieve it, identify the people you will need to make the dream a reality, Get them on your team and then take action. Do your part, Trust God and he will do the rest.

Finally, It is always a pleasure hosting great panelists, a great audience and to recommender of these sessions to friends, networks, workmates, groups and more so who share on their social media platforms. Namaste! Thank you! Asante!

Also, is always a high recommendation for if you can, attend these events physically, this article picks out main points and leave out other important parts of the session like, actions/expressions, fun, one one-one with panelists, sharing your thought, networking and being around like minds. Next series on Friday December 8, 2017 at TechBuzz Hub

About the Author

I am an enthusiastic and Self-motivated TechBuzz Hub Human Resource Manager with interest in Innovations, writing and working with people.

3 Comments

Julian Owasimire
December 6, 2017 at 2:01 pm -

Wooowww…..I must extend my gratitude to TechBuzz Hub for such a great initiative plus the panelists that night.
There is a lot I learnt which has been forementioned and will just highlight some of the many things that I really grasped that night.
To set bigger goals because there is a part of the brain tickled by challenges.
To go to places or events where the class of people I want to network with are.
To protect my ideas from dream vampires and negative self talk.
To get ideas in line with my purpose and interest.
And finally to have a plan and act daily towards the set goals.
May God bless Mr.Musolin, Mr.Bakutana and Mr.Bake and of course TechBuzz Hub

@Julian Owasimire, Your experience inspires me and guess what.as part of the TechBuzz Hub team. We thank you for your ability to learn from the session and for sharing such an interesting Experience. We love you!